Celestial Lights: Sunshine
by Karri Potter
Summary: A few weeks after Moonlight, Harry is feeling a little sick and left out. But could what he's really looking for be right under his nose? It all starts with a simple visit to the lake in the beautiful sunshine...


Hey, all! I'll try to make this short and sweet! Okay, this is the second in my Celestial Lights series, which is just a bunch of short stories about would-be romances. The first was Moonlight, but you don't need to read that before this (not that I'm saying you shouldn't read that- it's my personal favorite). This could possibly happen, oh, say, a few weeks after Moonlight, which involves Ron and Hermione, but that's not strictly necessary.

Review and let me know what you think- you all know what it feels like to post something and worry about the response! Thanks so much. Also, if you'd like to give me ideas for more possible couples in your reviews, that would be greatly appreciated.

And also a big thank-you to my brand-new beta-reader Krissykat, you're a life-saver! Especially now for posting for me! I owe you one (or two, or three)!

So here goes: Harry is feeling slightly love-nauseous (I will never misspell that again, thank you, Krissykat!) and what could it take to cheer him up? Perhaps- a little Ginny Weasley? Enjoy!

  
  


Celestial Lights:

Sunshine

  
  
  
  


Harry Potter flopped down on the grass and stretched luxuriously. Finally! Classes were out for the weekend, and it was a gorgeous afternoon. The bright sunshine cast a friendly glow over everything it touched, unusually warm for May. 

  
  


"How 'bout that?" said his friend Ron, sitting back against a spindly tree. "No homework in Transfiguration- McGonagall must've been in a good mood." 

  
  


"I bet." Harry said dryly, tilting his head back to look back at him. "Someone put roses on her desk just before class- I saw them."

  
  


"Oooh, she's got an admirer!" squealed their friend Hermione, coming up and stretching out, laying her head in Ron's lap. Harry raised his eyebrows- those two had been acting weird lately. Ron refused to meet his gaze, but Harry didn't miss the fact that his hand had somehow become entwined with Hermione's.

  
  


"I always knew she'd find someone!" Hermione continued, seemingly oblivious to the look Harry was sending them.

  
  


Ron snorted. "McGonagall- an admirer?"

  
  


Harry chuckled despite himself. "Seems a little farfetched, doesn't it?"

  
  


"Oh, you two!" Hermione shook her head. "Why shouldn't Professor McGonagall find love? She's not that terribly old!"

  
  


"Yeah, but-" Ron protested weakly. At a glare from Hermione, he retreated. "Well- I mean, who do you think it would be?"

  
  


"Snape, maybe?" Harry suggested, grinning. Snape was by far their least favorite teacher. 

  
  


Hermione gasped. "Don't even suggest such a thing! Minerva deserves much better than that-"

  
  


"Minerva?" Ron asked incredulously.

  
  


Hermione blushed. "Um- I mean-"

  
  


Harry felt slightly sick at the look Ron was giving Hermione. "Right." he said, getting up and wiping the dirt off his jeans. "I'm going to, ah- go see Hagrid." His friends barely seemed to acknowledge that he had spoken, let alone that he was leaving. He sighed and started off at a leisurely pace across the grounds.

  
  


He slowed down as he came to the edge of the lake, which was lapping softly at the shore. The sunshine glinting off the smooth surface was almost blinding. Harry bent down and picked up a small, flat rock nestled in the sand. Ever since Cho Chang had told him in no uncertain terms that she wasn't interested, the slightest sign of romance tended to leave Harry with a nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was obviously something going on between his two best friends, and he wasn't sure he liked it. Harry turned the stone around in his hands. Love was definitely in the air at Hogwarts- Hagrid and Madame Maxime, Lavender and Seamus, Professor McGonagall and _somebody_- everywhere you went you could see Pansy Parkinson hanging off Draco Malfoy's arm like he was a life ring. And now Ron and Hermione. What was the big deal about romance, anyway? What good came of it? Especially went the object of your affections didn't feel the same? I'm never gonna fall in love, thought Harry determinedly. I'll never be that dumb. Never. He lifted his arm and threw the stone towards the lake. It skipped five or six times before dropping into the water.

  
  


"Nice shot, Harry."

  
  


Harry spun around, surprised. He shaded his eyes from the sunshine, and looked up to see Ginny Weasley standing on the bank five feet away. "Oh, hey, Ginny." 

  
  


Ginny stepped down to join him at the water's edge. "I've never been able to skip rocks. Fred and George always used to tease me about it."

  
  


"It's easy enough once you get the hang of it," Harry said, picking up another smooth rock. "You just gotta hold it, like so-" he demonstrated "and flick your wrist, like this." He sent another perfect toss skipping along the surface of the lake.

  
  


"I'll try," said Ginny doubtfully. She bent over to pick up her own rock. When she straightened, Harry took the opportunity to look at her- really look at her- as he'd never done before. He'd always considered Ginny as just Ron's kid sister- someone who happened to have a crush on him, someone who occasionally tagged along with them, but now . . . Ginny was squinting in the sunshine, her heavily freckled face concentrating on getting the right grip on her stone. Her red hair, the same shade as Ron's, stood out vividly against all the green and blue around them. Harry had never really noticed before, but she was really quite pretty . . . what are you thinking? He gave himself a mental slap. This was _Ginny_. Ron's little sister. 

  
  


_So?_ a little voice in the back of his head said. _She's not your sister._

  
  


Ginny threw her rock and watched as it sunk with a *plop* into the water as soon as it hit. She pulled a face. "I'm terrible."

  
  


"No, you're not," Harry said. "It just takes practice. It took me forever to get it." 

  
  


Ginny looked up at him for a moment, shielding her eyes. "What's wrong?"

  
  


Harry looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"

  
  
  
  


Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. You're here, all alone . . . you didn't look too happy."

  
  


"Well . . ." Harry hesitated. "Just . . . thinking, you know?"

  
  


Ginny nodded. "I understand."

  
  


"It's just-" Harry began, glad to have a release, "you know- you must have noticed there's something going on between Ron and Hermione-"

  
  


Ginny suddenly looked very knowing. "Oh," she said, understanding. "Are you jealous?" 

There was a tone in her voice Harry didn't recognize. 

  
  


Harry was taken aback. "Jealous?"

  
  


"Yeah. Like, maybe you don't like the idea of Hermione with Ron-"

  
  


"Oh, it's nothing like that!" Harry said. "I don't- _like _like Hermione or anything, but they're my best friends, and everything. I don't know, I just feel-"

  
  


"-left out." Ginny finished for him. Harry half-smiled. "Sort of."

  
  


"Harry-" Ginny said in a tone that clearly said 'listen to me, I know what I'm talking about'. "Just because- if- something's happening between Ron and Hermione, it doesn't mean that they're just going to drop you. You're their best friend. Even if they share some things you don't- you're still _Harry_." 

  
  


Harry sighed and looked away. "I know. I know all that. But still-" he broke off, not sure what he wanted to say. 

  
  


Ginny looked at him a minute. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

  
  


"What?" Harry asked.

  
  


"Love."

  
  


Harry looked at Ginny, startled. She had a little smile on her face. She knew he was hurting, not just about Ron and Hermione, but about Cho . . .

  
  


He mustered a smile. "It sure does."

  
  


Ginny bent down to pick up another rock. Harry watched her, thinking hard. There was something about Ginny- she seemed to always know the right thing to say. How's she do it? 

  
  


He snapped out of reverie when Ginny held out a rock in her hand. He shook his head. "That's half your problem, right there." He took the rock out of her hand and dropped it, searching the ground for a more suitable replacement. Finding it, he held it up for her to see. "It has to be almost perfectly smooth and flat, like this." He gave her the stone and she looked at it dubiously. 

  
  


"Oh, come on." Harry said, taking Ginny's arms in his and helping her place them correctly. He inhaled the sweet scent of her hair- some feminine, flowery scent- and felt slightly dizzy. What's wrong with me? he thought. 

  
  


Together, Harry and Ginny flicked the rock towards the water. It surpassed Harry's previous try, skipping no less than seven times before retiring. Ginny squealed and turned to face him. "I did it!"

  
  


She suddenly sobered and looked up at him, something unreadable on her face. "We did it." she said more quietly. 

  
  


"We did it." Harry agreed. He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. Ginny closed her eyes and let out a little sigh. "Thanks," he said.

  
  


Ginny's eyes popped open. "For what?" 

  
  


"For understanding." Harry said, then held out his hand. "Come on, let's go. I think I hear the beginnings of a Quidditch match."

  
  


Ginny beamed at him and took his hand, and they headed back across the grounds. 

  
  


"Harry! Ginny!" 

  
  


Hermione ran up to them, panting. "Where've you been? We've been looking everywhere!"

  
  


Ginny shot Harry a look that said _See?_

  
  


Harry shrugged as Ron jogged up behind Hermione. "Where you been, mate? We can't have a five on five game of Quidditch without our star Seeker, can we?"

  
  


"Come on, Harry," Ginny said suddenly, surprising him. "Let's play." She wiggled her eyebrows, then turned and headed towards the Quidditch pitch.

  
  


Harry watched her retreating figure, merely a silhouette outlined in the sunlight. A very odd feeling overtook the pit of his stomach. What was so bad about romance, really? Oblivious to the strange looks Ron and Hermione were giving him, he felt a sudden, silly smile spread across his face as he jogged after Ginny, heading out into the sunshine . . . 


End file.
